Learning 2.0

Ever sense leaving class on Tuesday, I have been thinking about this blog and what I would change about the education system. I think the biggest thing to realize is that change IS needed. The system was set up many years ago, and sense then it hasn't changed much. The world around us has changed and continues to change constantly. The eduction system needs to hop on this boat of change and roll with it. 

Kids are learning in different ways, mostly using technology. My friend is currently in the education program here at Dixie State and they are given an iPad to use for the semester so they can learn how to use and be able to teach with it. Technology is becoming a tool to learn. This goes to show that there are other ways to learn besides standardized testing. I myself don't mind tests. They don't give me anxiety unless I am completely unprepared. I don't get too nervous and don't mind taking tests. However, these tests we are all required to take don't necessarily show how smart or how much people are actually learning. I have an example from my own life. Last semester I was studying to take the Kaplan, which is a test you have to take here at Dixie to apply for the Nursing Program. I bought a book to help me study, actually studied and then of course took the test. In order to apply you have to get a 74% on the test. I sadly got a 73%. I was one percent off and therefore I couldn't apply. This was frustrating because to me, a test shouldn't say whether or not I am smart or good enough to apply. The ACT also has this same concept for me. Tests aren't always the best way to say what level people are at. 

It is easy to realize that the education system needs to change. How though? I think we need to rid some of the old ways and come up with some new. Incorporate technology in the way we teach and learn. I think we have slowly already started to do this, but we can do so even more. I don't know if I can think of a specific way but I definitely think there is room for change and improvement. Just as times have changed sense they set up the eduction system, it is also time for the education system to change. 

Connect the Dots

Reading all those articles definitely opened my eyes to things I had not thought of before. I am so caught up in the technological world that I live in already, that I am changing as it changes, but not always aware of it. The one dot that stood out to me was location. We all know that are phones have location services on them, and when in a new or unknown place, the GPS is great to us. However, after reading this article and listening to the presentation given on it, it really is crazy how much location plays a role in the technology we use. 

In the presentation they talked about how when we go new places or even tag ourselves somewhere at a certain location, we then become susceptible to our information being given out. Ads from where we are at can now start popping up on our feed. I have never really realized how often this happens until I listened to the presentation. It made me think of my own example I had happen just a week ago. For basketball we traveled to the Bay area. Before practice we had some spare time and were able to drive over the Golden Gate Bridge. While using my snap chat on the bridge, a little picture popped up of the bridge that I was on. It only would show up while I was on the bridge though. I hadn't shared a picture of where I was at, but my phone and the app I was using knew exactly where I was at. While at the time I thought this was awesome, after reading and learning about location, I am a little skeptical. While it is fun and we want people to know where we are going, it crazy to think that our phones and technology have grown so much, and that our locations are that easy to track now. It is important to be aware of this, and to decide how and when we want to share our location. This way we can do it on our terms so we know when and how we are sharing our location.